CH176540 - Sanctionable conduct by tax advisers: determining sanctionable conduct: meaning of loss of tax
Bringing about a loss of tax revenue means causing a client to:
- Account for less tax than they are required to account for by law
- Obtain more tax relief than they are entitled to obtain by law
- Account for tax later than they are required to account for it by law, or
- Obtain tax relief earlier than they are entitled to obtain it by law.
‘Tax relief’ includes:
- any exemption from, or deduction or credit against or in respect of, tax, and
- any repayment of tax.
In other words, bringing about a loss of tax revenue means causing a client to act unlawfully in respect of their tax affairs. This may be by declaring too little tax, filing tax returns late, claiming too much tax relief, or claiming tax relief early.
HMRC publishes extra-statutory concessions (ESCs) to clarify the tax treatment in certain circumstances. For the purposes of tax adviser sanctionable conduct at least, acting in accordance with an ESC means acting in accordance with the law.
‘Tax’ means any of the following:
- income tax
- capital gains tax
- corporation tax
- construction industry deductions
- VAT
- insurance premium tax
- inheritance tax
- stamp duty land tax
- stamp duty reserve tax
- petroleum revenue tax
- aggregates levy
- climate change levy
- apprenticeship levy
- diverted profits tax
- multinational top-up tax
- domestic top-up tax
- annual tax on enveloped dwellings
- plastic packaging tax
- economic crime (anti-money laundering) levy
- digital services tax
- soft drinks industry levy
- landfill tax
- any duty of excise other than vehicle excise duty
FA12/SCH38/PARA3
FA12/SCH38/PARA37 as amended